MILAN, July 29 (Reuters) - Italian energy group Eni

on Wednesday lifted its share buyback programme by €600 million

to €3.4 billion ($3.9 billion) after reporting better than

expected second-quarter results.

The state-controlled company's adjusted net profit more than

doubled in the April-June period to €2.3 billion, beating an

analyst consensus of €2.09 billion compiled by the groupand

hitting its highest level in three years.

Eni said it may pay an extra dividend in the fourth quarter

if the price of Brent oil remained substantially above its

forecasts.

Results were boosted by growth in the group's upstream

business, progress at biofuel division Enilive and a spike in

energy prices triggered by the conflict between the United

States and Iran.

Hydrocarbon production rose 7% year-on-year to 1.789 million

barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day in the second quarter,

leading the company to improve its full-year growth target to 5%

from a previous 3%-4%.

Proforma adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT)

at Eni's exploration and production (E&P) division came in at

€4.77 billion, above an analysts' estimate of €3.01 billion.

"We are successfully scaling our E&P business for the next

phase of growth and value creation," CEO Claudio Descalzi said

in a statement.

He cited the start of the Searah joint venture across

Indonesia and Malaysia as well as "several project advancements

and expansion in new geographies."

($1 = 0.8773 euros)